Pressure cooker bone broth is easy to make and full of health benefits. If you have an electric pressure cooker like an Instant Pot it is even easier! In this post I will show you how you can make high quality bone broth (bone stock) in a couple of hours rather than simmering on the stove for hours or even days.

Before being diagnosed with celiac disease and cleaning up my diet (not necessarily in that order), I had a myriad of health issues. The peskiest was my propensity to get respiratory infections. As far back as I can remember, bi-annual sinus infections have been part of my life. Bouts of seasonal allergies or full blown colds ALWAYS led to a sinus infection that would not be resolved without antibiotics. There seemed to be no way around it. No matter what I did to boast my immune system, it didn’t seem to do a lick of good.

I’m really grateful there are medications that cure our ills when we need them. But I also have a lot of allergies to medicines, antibiotics included, so I often wondered whether a nasty respiratory infection might be the death of me someday if there were no more antibiotic alternatives. (Okay, so maybe I was a little paranoid…)

But things have changed. Since going paleo – and minimally, dealing with celiac disease, my immune system is much improved. If fact, I hardly ever get sick. And the last two times I have gotten a cold I managed to avoid having to take antibiotics. Yes!!!

Pressure Cooker Bone Broth

A few days ago I came down with a cold and was determined to do everything possible to keep it from moving into a bacterial infection requiring antibiotics. One of the first things I did was make pressure cooker bone broth. Bone broth contains healing compounds like collagen, proline, glycine, glutamine and minerals in forms that your body can easily absorb: calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and others. Read more about the healing benefits of bone broth here.

Today I am sharing a recipe for pressure cooker bone broth (stock) in the hopes it will help you get into the habit of making this nutrient-dense elixir yourself. There are two other recipes on this blog for bone broth but both are made in a slow cooker. One is “Brown” Bone Stock which is a super-rich stock with a very concentrated, gourmet-quality flavor. It takes a bit more effort but is well worth it. The other recipe is “How to Make Homemade Chicken Stock in Five Minutes” which is a really easy method using a store-roasted chicken. You could use either of these recipes with the pressure-cooker method. (Using knuckles and other joints in the process will give you the amazing gel that is so sought after in bone broth.)

The pressure cooker bone broth contains beef bones, a few veggies, aromatics, vinegar and spices. It doesn’t require roasting the bones – even though you could choose to do that. The benefit of the pressure cooker method is you can have the same rich stock in a fraction of the time of the slow-cooker method. And even though homemade beef and chicken stocks smell delicious when simmering away in the form of soup, the bone broth cooking process itself has a rather unpleasant smell after several hours. My family has complained about this funky odor many times and they were relieved when we switched to the pressure-cooker bone broth method.

My Cold and Flu Therapy

In addition to sipping the warm bone broth daily, I irrigated my sinuses using a Neti Pot with a few drops of Oregano Oil. I also drank hot water with a few drops of oregano oil added because of its supposed anti-viral and antibacterial properties. (To irrigate your sinuses you can warm 16 ounces of distilled/bottled/filtered water (don’t use tap water!) and add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 4-8 drops of oregano oil. Do this a couple of times a day.) I also drank lots of Traditional Medicinals “Breathe Easy” tea and took a nightly dose of magnesium-rich Natural Calm.*

And guess what – it worked! Well, at least I managed to get well without having to take antibiotics which is highly unusual for me. There’s no guarantee following this process will keep you from getting a sinus infection. But it can’t hurt to nourish your body while you are under the weather. Certainly fixing any issues with your diet (and getting lots and lots of fluids and sleep) will go a long way to keep your immune system strong regardless of whether or not you follow other homeopathic remedies.

Do you have your own homeopathic remedies or routines you follow when you get sick? I would love to hear about those in the comments section.

Oh, and I almost forgot. I’ll be speaking at an event in Camarillo, CA on February 8th. Click the photo for more information and registration.

12-16 cups of water (enough to cover ingredients but no more than ⅔ full)

1 tablespoon celtic sea salt

Instructions

Place all ingredients (except salt) into your pressure-cooker, ensuring the ingredients are covered but the water level is not higher than recommended by the pressure-cooker manufacturer (usually ⅔ full).

Heat on the stovetop on medium-high heat until brought up to full pressure. Lower the temperature to as low as possible without losing pressure and cook for between 90 minutes about 3 hours. (If using an electric pressure cooker such as Instant Pot, use manual set to 90 minutes on high pressure)

Turn off the heat and allow the pressure-cooker to come to room temperature on its own (even overnight). If you are in a rush (and using a standard cooker - not an electric version like Instant Pot) you can run cool water over the outside of the pressure-cooker until the pressure is released.

Once everything is cooled completely, strain through a sieve into a large bowl and discard the solids. You can retain the large bones to reuse for another batch. Just add fresh veggies and seasonings.

To concentrate the broth/stock further you can return the liquid to a boil on the stovetop and reduce down for more compact storage.

Season to taste with sea salt.

3.5.3229

* These just happen to be the brands I use. I’m not receiving any type of compensation from the makers to recommend them. However, the links are affiliate links so if you do happen to purchase through one of those links I will receive a small commission that doesn’t increase the price to you. Thanks for the support!

9 Responses to "Pressure Cooker Bone Broth Recipe"

Lisa,
As little as 30 minutes at high pressure (15psi, 112 degrees C, 250 degrees F) is typically enough to sterilize – killing even clostridium spores. This recipe recommends for 3 full hours at high pressure. It’s very similar to a meat canning process. I believe leaving the pressure cooker sealed after the high pressure cooking process keeps the contents sterile while they cool. My process is to do the pressure cooking (3 hours) in the later evenings then turning it off before bed. I have no problem at all leaving it out overnight then straining and refrigerating in the morning. If it worries you in any way then you certainly have the option to refrigerate sooner.
Thanks for writing.
Lea

I live with a Brazilian and he taught me to leave stuff on the stove to cool and to keep after cooking. I am healthy and happy. We cool over night ALL the time, and in fact my gut is better than ever. Do what you want, but cooling overnight most of the time its still warm in the morning. Love 0n! Fear will only follow you, if you let it.

Will definitely try this in the pressure cooker, thanks for sharing the recipe.

Have you ever tried propolis drops when you feel the first symptoms of a cold or flu? My experience has been that whatever I’m fighting goes away in a day or less. But if you try get a good extract. There are lots of overly diluted ones out there.

First off, pressure cooking permits higher boiling temperatures killing off all forms of living biology and the sealed pressure cooker continues to remain sterile for the most part, until the pressure release brings it to atmosphere. From that point on it’s pulling in a tiny bit of ambient air as it cools, but not enough to really create risk overnight at all.

If one is to can the broth in Ball jars for example, then yes, you would move it directly to canning while hot. I actually release the pressure cooker pressure quickly after 3 hours boil and immediately process to strain it, then make ice cubes out of it for consumption within 2 weeks. Yes it gels very well, but best to use bones directly from the fridge or freezer which promotes the gel formation starting with cold bones.

Second, bone broth is ALWAYS supposed to be brought to a boil during preparation for consumption for absolute sanitation. Season as desired and allow to steep up to ten minutes, which guarantees any slight exposure is absolutely eliminated.

Lea, have a look at intermittent fasting as a dietary adjunct. Twice a week, once per month is typically sufficient doing a 24 hour fast say Tuesday and again Thursday. Eat a full dinner Monday night and don’t eat again until Tuesday night, etc. Use ONLY bone broth during the 24 hour fast to ward off hunger. Just don’t consume more than 50 calories so you sustain a ketogenic state at least 16 hours. This will trigger the liver to dump aged cholesterol stores, improve cycle on clear fat cells and also signals a replenishment of older white cells. The new white cells produced from a ketogenic fast are mostly formed new from stem cells making them able to sustain longer and be more effective. So long as you consume sufficient, well balanced calories when you’re not fasting, you will not lose weight, unless you cut calories and wish to lose weight.

Sounds like you’re winning the infection battle. Keep in mind balanced humidity and healthy sinus is necessary for the sinuses to produce the body’s majority of natural stores of Hydrogen Peroxide on the immune axis. Our cells store a certain amount of Hydrogen Peroxide and convert it to Oxygen and water when infection in cells is being oxidized to kill it. Dry conditions lead to dehydrated lining in the sinuses which directly expose capillaries at the surface to contagions and allergens once the moist lining is dehydrated. DO NOT use cool mist humidifiers, only steam as in vaporizer, (best at night when dehydration is increased by cyclic breathing).

Hi Mike,
What a great “comment”. Much more than a comment, really. Thank you for the comments on the pressure cooking process as well as advice about fasting and sinus infection strategies! Much appreciated.
Lea

Thanks for your recipe! I was doing a little research and trying to figure out if doing bone broth in a pressure cooker vs. a slow cooker changes the quality of the nutrients? Is one better for you then the other? Wondering if you had any insight.

The standard bone broth method typically suggests skimming the foam that forms on the top during the first stage of cooking to remove impurities. Since a pressure cooker cannot be opened one the cooking commences, what about that part of the process?

That’s a really good question. I skim off anything that is on the top after the process is over. But I find that most of that “stuff” sinks to the bottom after it sits a while so when I’m pouring off the broth and putting it through a sieve I don’t seem to have a problem. I suppose you could stop the process a few minutes after you gain full pressure to see if there’s anything to skim off.
I hope that’s helpful.